


Like Magic Woven Through Me

by KatieEwok



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Fae & Fairies, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, Knight Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Mild Angst, Minor Violence, Prince Katsuki Yuuri, Yuri!!! on Ice Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:54:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21977671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatieEwok/pseuds/KatieEwok
Summary: Victor was quiet about it of course, but his love for the Prince had burned bright in his chest ever since he first met him, years before, when Yuuri was just twenty and Victor twenty-four. From the moment Victor had seen the Prince, he knew he was in trouble. Raven hair, big expressive eyes, smooth skin and cherry pink lips. But above all that was Yuuri’s unending kindness, how funny he could be when he let his guard down, his intelligent conversation, the way he used magic like he was dancing. How could Victor not love him?[Written for the 2019 YOI Secret Skater Gift Exchange. Prompt: Viktor is a handsome fairy knight in shining armour rescuing fairy prince Yuuri Katsuki from danger.]
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 22
Kudos: 340
Collections: Yuri!!! on Ice Secret Skater 2019





	Like Magic Woven Through Me

**Author's Note:**

> I ticked both the violence and the no archive warnings apply because there is a fightscene but there's no blood or gore, but thought I'd check the violence one for anyone trying to filter that out.
> 
> Happy holidays!

Prince Yuuri Katsuki was the second son of the royal family of the fae Court. He was beautiful, intelligent, unwittingly charming, and an absolute pain in Victor’s perfect arse.

“Well which way do you _think_ he went?” Victor asked the stablehand.

Minami Kenjiro just _adored_ Yuuri. It was usually quite sweet to witness the boy's unfailing hero worship, but in that moment it was getting on Victor’s nerves.

Minami shifted from one foot to the other, his eyes darting around the stables as he twisted the hem of his shirt in his hands. Victor was sure he knew something but didn’t want to betray Yuuri by telling his knight where he’d gone.

“I’m not sure…” Minami said eventually, unable to meet Victor’s eye.

Victor fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh. Instead he placed a hand on Minami’s shoulder in what he thought was a friendly way but just seemed to make Minami look even more terrified.

“Listen, Minami,” Victor said, trying to keep his tone understanding, “Prince Yuuri is vulnerable to attack on his own. I know he needs his space, but I promise I won’t make him come back to the castle, I’ll just keep an eye on him from a distance. What if bandits happened upon him?”

Minami’s eyes went very wide at that.

“Oh no! I hadn’t thought,” he exclaimed, horrified. “Okay he went that way.”

He pointed towards where the palace grounds were overtaken by the forest.

“I think he intended to take the path up to the mountains.”

Victor’s stomach sunk like a stone.

“The mountains?!” he repeated several decibels above Minami’s volume, making the boy jump and give a terrified nod.

Victor swore very loudly before dashing to his steed. Makkachin was a beautiful chestnut stallion, strongly built with a gorgeous mane of wavy brown hair. Victor hurried to get him saddled up, his hands decisive in their movements.

He was trying very hard not to think about the harpy sightings that had been reported from the guard towers covering the nearby mountains. Had Yuuri forgotten? Victor knew his anxiety sometimes blotted out everything else, an all consuming maw that chewed out any rational thoughts.

Makkachin fully saddled up, Victor mounted. Makkachin only needed the slightest touch to know what Victor was thinking, and he took off at a gallop from the stables. They covered the well trimmed grass of the paddock quickly and took the fence surrounding it at a running jump. Victor knew there were other guards and knights looking for Yuuri, but there was no time to rally them to him, he had to find Yuuri before it was too late.

The grass quickly bled into trees, the fae usually uncomfortable with living too far away from plentiful nature. This section of woods would’ve been considered the Katsuki’s property if the fae put stock in such things. As it was the Katsuki’s knew that nature belonged to no one, and while they and their court frequented the forest paths, they let mother nature rule here.

Despite this, the path leading to the mountains was decently maintained. Victor was grateful for this small mercy, taking it at a gallop that startled birds from their branches. He prayed to the goddess as he went, prayed that Yuuri was safe, that he hadn’t run into harpies or anything else dangerous.

Victor’s mind flicked over images of the Prince’s laughing face. Yuuri had a quiet laugh, breathy and light, but it filled Victor with such joy every time he heard it, especially so when it was because of something Victor had said.

The last time Victor had heard it was yesterday, when Sir Christophe Giacommetti had made a lewd joke, not realising that the Prince was standing right behind him. Christophe had apologised profusely when he’d noticed Yuuri, but Yuuri had laughed and assured him it was quite alright.

“Walk with me, Sir Nikiforov?” he’d asked then, turning those big brown eyes on Victor. And Victor could only agree. It didn’t matter that he was duty bound to do whatever the Prince asked of him, he’d do whatever Yuuri asked whether he was his knight or not, helpless as he was.

There’d been no laughter that morning though. A delegation of lords and ladies had arrived at the palace. Supposedly they were there for the spring festival, but in reality they were all eligible suitors vying for a royal match. At twenty-three the Prince had come of age years before, and it was usual for royals to make an advantageous marriage. Of course, the fae married for love far more than human royals, who had been known to marry off their sons and daughters into purely political matches. However, when there was a magical bloodline to consider, there was no sense in weakening it. Not when Yuuri was the strongest magic wielder of their generation.

Yuuri had been a mess, and Victor had been privately distraught.

Victor was quiet about it of course, but his love for the Prince had burned bright in his chest ever since he first met him, years before, when Yuuri was just twenty and Victor twenty-four. From the moment Victor had seen the Prince, he knew he was in trouble. Raven hair, big expressive eyes, smooth skin and cherry pink lips. But above all that was Yuuri’s unending kindness, how funny he could be when he let his guard down, his intelligent conversation, the way he used magic like he was dancing. How could Victor not love him?

Makkachin’s hooves struck the floor of the path in a steady tempo, and Victor thanked the goddess for his loyal steed. No other rider and mount could’ve covered the ground they did at such speed.

The ground started to climb. Victor gritted his teeth as Makkachin huffed, his flank starting to froth. Up ahead the mountains could be glimpsed through the trees, rising up on either side of the valley like silent sentinels.

Trees streaked past with no sign of Yuuri, though Victor raised his voice to call for him. Concentrating on both riding hard and summoning magic was no mean feat, but Victor was no amateur. In fact the reason he was put into the service of the royal family was because he had exceptionally strong magic. The only fae who could challenge him was Yuuri, and that was only when Yuuri’s confidence was strong. Confident Yuuri could crush Victor to pulp. They’d been working on it together, helping Yuuri quiet the voices in his head so his true magical ability could shine through. Victor didn’t think it’d be shining too brightly right then. Not with how Yuuri had been that morning.

Concentrating hard, he summoned an ice atronach. The atronach coalesced from the moisture in the air, moulding into a humanoid form that floated a couple of feet off the ground and sped along beside Victor. His companion happened to look like a woman, bare of clothes, but with only icy skin to show it was hardly indecent.

“Find him,” Victor commanded it, and the atronach sped off.

Victor was well into the valley between the mountains when he felt it. His magic shuddered as his atronach came into contact with something. And whatever it was it could evidently fight back.

His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a piercing, birdlike shriek from up ahead. His blood froze.

“Come on, Makka,” Victor murmured to his horse. “Come on, boy.”

Makkachin was already going full pelt, but Victor felt him strain to increase his speed. They thundered over the ground.

As the trees fell away at the edge of a huge lake nestled between the peaks, Victor saw him. Yuuri was a little way around the edge of the lake, and he was being swarmed by harpies. His blue cloak swirled around him, his face unsure and more scared than he should’ve been. Flashes of ice could be seen, sharp and lethal, but nowhere near Yuuri’s full potential. Victor’s felt sick as he watched a wall Yuuri conjured fall easily to the slash of a harpy’s magic, something that would never happen if Yuuri was in the right headspace. But he was evidently shaken up and doubting himself, second guessing his attacks so they were weaker. His horse was nowhere to be seen, so either he didn’t bring one or it bolted.

The harpies were ugly things. Their appearance wasn’t too dissimilar to that of a hag’s, if you didn’t count the beaks and wings for arms. Tattered black rags hung from their skeletal frames, their skin mottled and sagging. Their dark hair hung limply around their cruel faces, and while there were some minor differences between them, as a group their appearances were largely the same.

Victor spurred Makkachin round the edge of the lake as he watched his atronach throw itself in front of a slashing swipe of a harpy’s claws which would’ve caught Yuuri’s back. The claws instead tore into the ice of the familiar’s chest, and she shattered. Now it was just Yuuri.

Yuuri had turned at the sound of the antronach’s cry, and threw up brutal spikes of ice that made the harpy fall back. But there were too many of them, and though Yuuri seemed to be finding his feet, it wasn’t the same unwavering strength that could’ve sent the harpies sprawling with one powerful blast. Victor summoned his magic, feeling it form around him as he called the icy winds of the tundra to him.

But he was too late. A harpy that had been hanging back until then, as though it was observing before making its move, now darted forward. Victor watched as though in slow motion as Yuuri turned but not quickly enough, distracted by two other harpies. The slash of the harpy’s claws was well aimed to get inside Yuuri’s defences, and though he raised his hands, it was too late. The sweep of dark magic caught him in the chest.

The scream Victor let out as he watched Yuuri stagger was entirely involuntary. It ripped from his throat like something animal, and with it came a gust of icy wind so powerful that it tore across the remaining space between him and the group and knocked the harpies sprawling. Victor shaped his spell so the wind didn’t hit Yuuri, but pelted the harpies with shards of ice. Victor heard them scream as it cut at their skin, but they were quickly recovering.

“Yuuri!”

Yuuri’s given name, free of its title, fell from his lips without Victor’s permission, but the sight of Yuuri’s eyes finding his own wiped everything but the wild hope that they’d be okay from his mind. He saw Yuuri smile as he sunk to his knees.

“Victor…”

And oh his name on that tongue, Victor could listen to it for a million moons.

He leapt from Makkachin’s back as she was still galloping, placing himself between Yuuri and the harpies. Makkachin stood over Yuuri’s slumped form too, guarding. Victor drew his sword.

The harpies fell upon him. He was glad he was just in chain mail and not full armour, which would’ve made him slower. Victor slashed and parried, slicing one harpy’s head clean off and irreparably damaging another’s wing. He sent out a brutal wave of knife sharp ice that caught three of them with its spikes, while with the other hand he bought his sword round in a swipe that cut through another’s stomach.

The harpies still standing retreated, all of them injured in some way. Victor sent a wave of icy wind after them to make sure they were truly on their way, and then turned.

“Yuuri…”

Yuuri was lying on his back, his hands bunched in his own tunic over his stomach. He coughed weakly, and the sound was all wrong, tight and pained. His fingers tightened their grip on his blue tunic, and Victor’s stomach sank. Harpy magic could wreak irreparable damage to a body, draining life and magic. Yuuri’s face was already worryingly pale and screwed up in pain, his breathing was shallow, but he gave Victor a weak smile as the knight hurried to his side.

“Yuuri, I mean, Your Highness,” Victor started, fighting back the screaming panic that wanted to blot out everything else in his mind.

“I don’t think it’s really the time for titles right now,” Yuuri choked out, and gave him a wobbly smile.

“You need a healer,” Victor said, and gathered Yuuri up in his arms.

The movement made Yuuri hiss with pain and Victor murmured apologies to him as Makkachin lowered himself so it was easy for Victor to climb on while holding Yuuri.

They rode hard but carefully, speed important but not more than the need to not disturb Yuuri’s injuries with movement. Victor reformed his atronach to race ahead of them, breathing his voice into it to deliver the message. Yuuri was comfortingly warm in his arms, and Victor tried to focus on how he could feel his breath on his neck where Yuuri was leant into his shoulder.

“Just hold on, Your Highness,” Victor said, squeezing Yuuri’s arm where he held him in place. “Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried,” Yuuri said, his voice very faint. “I am with you.”

Victor felt his heart clench painfully in his chest and he fought the urge to cry.

Riders came out to meet them as they drew closer to the palace, obviously having received Victor’s message. One of them was a healer, Minako Okukawa, and she rode one handed as she raised the other up in Yuuri’s direction, a faint glow starting to emanate from Yuuri’s stomach. But even as she did, Victor looked down to see black spilling like veins across the skin above Yuuri’s collar.

Victor made a distressed sound, and looked up to see Yuri among the guard. In training to be a knight, Yuri looked like he was trying to keep his deep distress from his expression.

When they reached the palace, Victor dismounted with Yuuri in his arms.

“Oh good,” Yuuri said, looking up at the palace, blinking slowly.

Then his eyes closed and his head flopped back, his body limp in Victor’s arms.

“Yuuri?” Victor said, looking down at him in terror. “Yuuri!”

“Sir Nikiforov.”

Victor looked up at the sharp sound of Minako’s voice. She had dismounted from her horse and was striding towards them.

“Let me carry him,” she said. “It will put less stress on his wounds.”

Victor didn’t want to let Yuuri go, but he knew Minako was right. He let her cast a spell that made Yuuri weightless, his body rising from Victor’s arms to float limply in midair. As Yuuri’s hand flopped to the side, tendrils of black inched down his wrist.

“Go and alert Yuuko and Sara,” Minako ordered one of the guards, a redheaded woman by the name of Mila.

Mila nodded and ran off in the direction of the palace. Victor, Yuri and Minako hurried after her, floating Yuuri along ahead of them. A lot of people were staring as they made their way into and through the palace, nobles and servants stepping back to let them pass.

When they reached the hospital wing Yuuko and Sara were already there. Yuuko was Yuuri’s handmaiden and friend, and Sara was Minako’s assistant. The women were hastening to arrange the space for a gravely injured patient, Yuuko following Sara’s orders.

Minako lay Yuuri in a bed and then her and Sara came to stand shoulder to shoulder, looking down at him from the foot of the bed. They both raised their hands, the ones closest to each other clasped together, and began to chant. The words were strange and old, as magic always was, sounding odd to the ear.

Yuuri began to glow brighter. Victor watched with his fists clenched, feeling pathetic in his inability to help. At the collar of Yuuri’s tunic, Victor could see the black contamination begin to recede. From Yuuri’s hands too, the tendrils crawled back like they were being sucked inwards. Minako and Sara continued to chant for a while longer before they dropped their hands.

“You bought his sleep clothes, Yuuko?” Minako asked as she stepped forward to inspect Yuuri.

“Yes, they’re here.”

Yuuko held out a long white nightshirt.

“Good. Get the screen and we’ll change him into them.”

Victor stepped back as Yuuko pulled the screen in front of Yuuri’s bed. He could hear the quiet talk of the women and the rustling of fabric.

He felt winded. Nearly having had the most important person in his life ripped from him, and he wasn’t sure they were out of the woods yet, though from the look of things they were getting there.

“I’m going back to the barracks,” Yuri said, and Victor jumped, having entirely forgotten the boy was there.

Yuri shot him a scowl.

“Let me know when he wakes.”

Victor nodded and Yuri turned, closing the door behind him gently rather than with his usual slam. Victor smiled. Yuri had always loved Yuuri, though he’d vehemently deny it if asked.

Minako stepped out from behind the screen and Victor looked up, hopeful.

“He’s going to be okay,” she said, offering him a thin lipped smile.

Victor felt all the breath leave him in a rush, and he sunk down onto the bed behind him.

“That… that’s good.”

He let his head hang, closing his eyes for a moment. His mouth tasted like copper.

“I want you to know,” Minako said, her voice closer now, making Victor look up, “that this wasn’t your fault.”

Victor’s stomach clenched. He didn’t know how she knew about the clawing guilt he was feeling, but he supposed it must be written all over his face.

“I let him get hurt,” he said. “I wasn’t fast enough.”

“Yuuri ignored the warnings about harpies in the mountains and took off on his own without telling anyone where he was going.”

“His anxiety makes him forget things.”

“His anxiety makes him make dumb decisions.”

Victor opened his mouth to argue, intensely annoyed, but Minako raised a hand.

“I’ve known that boy since he was in diapers,” she said. “He can be thick skulled at times. He made a very stupid decision today, and he paid the price. Hopefully we can offer him better counsel in future so he learns to take a moment to reconsider when his mind’s playing tricks on him, but that’s where our responsibility ends. No one could’ve got there as fast as you did today, and he’d no doubt have been a lot worse off if you hadn’t intervened.”

Victor’s brow furrowed as he considered this, but he was interrupted as the doors to the hospital wing flew open. Victor turned to see the rest of the royal family striding up the ward, Crown Princess Mari in the lead.

Minako hurried to head them off. Victor got to his feet, as was customary when in the presence of royalty.

“He’s sleeping,” Minako said, raising her hands to placate the family. “But he’ll be okay. He lost a lot of his magical vitality and his life force was waning, but with rest and rejuvenation spells he’ll be back to normal again.”

Queen Hiroko sank against her husband’s side in relief, and her consort, Duke Toshiya, put an arm around her.

“Thank goodness,” Queen Hiroko said, pressing her fingertips to her lips. “Thank you, Minako, you are a miracle worker from what we heard of Yuuri’s injuries.”

“Sara certainly helped,” Minako allowed with a nod to her assistant. “And Prince Yuuri wouldn’t have reached me at all if it wasn’t for Sir Nikiforov. He found him just in time, and it seems that he fought the harpies off?”

She turned to Victor for confirmation, who nodded.

“How can we ever thank you, Sir Nikiforov,” Queen Hiroko said, sweeping forward to grasp his hands in hers.

“There’s no need,” Victor assured her, dipping his head respectfully as he was unable to take a proper bow with her holding him. “I was just doing my duty to the crown.”

“I think it was a little more than that, but I appreciate it anyway.”

Queen Hiroko gave him a knowing smile, and Victor felt himself blush. Sometimes the Queen saw too much.

“What was Yuuri doing out in the mountains?” Crown Princess Mari spoke up then, addressing Victor. “We were warned of harpy sightings.”

“It was a bad day for him, Your Highness,” Victor explained, stepping to the side of the Queen so he could bow to the Crown Princess. “He wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“That much is evident,” Mari huffed, throwing a look that was torn between exasperation and worry at the still curtained bed.

“Can we see him?” Toshiya asked Minako, who nodded.

“But please, try to be quiet so as not to disturb him. Even though we’ve healed him he’ll still experience some pain once he wakes up, so needs all the rest he can get.”

Sara pulled back the curtain to reveal the hospital bed, and Victor felt his throat tighten.

Yuuri lay neatly tucked under the blankets, dressed in his nightshirt and sleeping peacefully. There was no sign of the contamination, but his skin was a sickly pale shade that made Victor’s heart turn. He looked so small in that moment, and all Victor wanted to do was wrap him up and protect him from the rest of the world.

The royal family approached the bedside, and Minako, Yuuko, Sara and Victor stepped back to give them some time alone. Victor went all the way out into the hallway, needing some air.

He paced back and forth in the hour that the royal family were visiting. But the moment they stepped out, he ducked back in. Queen Hiroko caught his hand as he passed.

“We have to entertain the visiting nobles,” she explained. “But you’ll watch over him for us while we’re gone, won’t you?”

“Of course, Your Excellency,” Victor said with a deep bow.

Queen Hiroko patted his hand and went to catch up with her husband and daughter where they were waiting for her.

Back inside the hospital wing, Victor sunk into a chair beside Yuuri’s bed. He eyed the steady rise and fall of Yuuri’s chest as he slept, drawing comfort from it.

“Minako’s right you know,” he said to Yuuri, even though he knew he couldn’t hear him. “You are an idiot.”

Victor smiled at the love of his life, chest tight.

“Imagine going galloping off into the mountains when we’d been warned of harpies without telling your knight. How am I supposed to protect you if you do that?”

Victor sighed and reached out to take Yuuri’s slack hand in his own.

“You make me worry too much for someone who should lead a sheltered life. Do you have any idea how terrified I was today? Of course not… you don’t know how much you mean to me.”

Victor stared hopelessly at the sleeping face. Yuuri was beautiful, even pale and drawn. Victor would take a thousand years of terror like he experienced today if it meant he got to spend one more moment with him.

“I’ll just have to stick to you like a sticking spell from now on,” Victor decided. “Even when you’re…”

But Victor swallowed the word down, unable to say it aloud. He couldn’t think of Yuuri married to someone else. It was too painful. Yes, he’d stay by his side, but it’d be torture for him.

Victor removed his chainmail so he was more comfortable, then settled his elbows on the edge of the bed, watching Yuuri sleep as he held his hand.

* * *

Victor awoke to movement in his hand. He blinked and looked up from where he’d fallen asleep on his folded arms to see Yuuri looking down at him, blinking sleepily.

“Sir Nikiforov?”

“Your Highness!” Victor exclaimed, shooting upright in his chair and hastily releasing Yuuri’s hand, indescribably relieved to see Yuuri conscious. “You’re awake, oh thank the goddess. Minako!”

Minako came hurrying down the ward, Sara at her heels.

“Your Highness,” Minako said, giving a perfunctory curtsey before sweeping over to inspect Yuuri. “Good to see you awake after your little stunt.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be a stunt,” Yuuri grumbled, going to push himself upright with a wince.

Victor hurried to help him and Yuuri smiled up at him in that way that always made Victor’s heart beat twice as fast.

“Thank you,” Yuuri said. “It was nice of you to watch over me while I slept.”

“Yes, well your mother asked me to,” Victor explained. “But I would’ve done it anyway of course.”

“Of course,” Yuuri said, giving him another brilliant smile.

Minako rolled her eyes as she unbuttoned Yuuri’s nightshirt. Victor’s stomach swooped as he caught sight of the smooth skin of Yuuri’s chest, and he promptly felt his blood rush inappropriately downwards. He stood hastily.

“I’ll, uh, give you some privacy,” he mumbled, giving a quick bow. “Your Highness.”

Then he hurried away from the bed, not sure if he was grateful for or disappointed by the curtain that Sara drew behind him.

* * *

Yuuri spent the next three days on bed rest, though he was allowed to return to his own chambers. At first he complained that he’d be bored, but when his friend, Lord Phichit Chulanont, pointed out that if he was on bed rest he wouldn’t have to see any of the visiting suitors, Yuuri’s mood improved considerably.

“Maybe I need a little more bed rest,” he said with a conspiratorial smirk at Phichit. “It was some seriously dark magic after all…”

“Leave it to me,” Phichit agreed with a grin.

Victor was sure to bring Yuuri plenty of books, and when Yuuri was too tired to do it himself, Victor read to him. It was nice, but so painfully domestic that it cracked through Victor like glass. This could never be his after all. It was only for the time being.

On the evening of the fourth day of bedrest Yuuri seemed much improved, not that he would let anybody know that, feigning sleep whenever someone who wasn’t Phichit, Yuuko or Minako came by to check on him. Though Victor thought the royal family may suspect what was going on. Victor never left his side.

Yuuri was sleeping while Victor sat in a chair at his bedside, reading one of the books he’d bought Yuuri. It had been a wonderful few days. True, Victor hadn’t liked seeing Yuuri so weak and in pain, but they’d been able to spend so much time together just relaxing where usually Yuuri had meetings or lessons to attend to. Victor usually attended them with him or stood just outside the door, but they weren’t nearly as fun as when they practiced magic together. The reading and chatting for hours on end was new and Victor thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yuuri shifted in his sleep, and Victor looked up to see his brow a little furrowed. Victor frowned, not liking the idea of Yuuri having a nightmare.

“Victor…” Yuuri sighed, and for a moment Victor thought Yuuri was asking for him, but Yuuri was definitely still asleep.

Victor watched as Yuuri turned his head a little, his mouth falling open as his breathing came a little short. Yuuri’s cheeks were slightly flushed.

“Oh… Victor…”

Victor was surprised at Yuuri’s tone, it almost sounded like… and suddenly Victor’s cheeks were burning, his eyes wide as he realised what was going on.

Yuuri wasn’t having a nightmare. No, he was having a very, very _good_ dream. One with Victor in it by the sound of it.

Victor didn’t know what to do with himself. For one, this was all he’d ever wanted, and the thought of watching Yuuri as he lost himself to the pleasure of the dream was very enticing. But on the other hand it’d be intruding, watching Yuuri when he was unaware.

Yuuri gasped and Victor’s mind was made up.

He stood abruptly, forgetting about the heavy book on his lap. The tomb fell to the floor with a loud thump, and Yuuri awoke with a start. Victor winced as Yuuri blinked confusedly, looking around himself and clutching the blanket to his chest.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Victor hurried to say, bowing as he backed away, heart thudding a million miles a minute and almost tripping over his own feet. “I didn’t mean to wake you. Are you hungry? I’ll get the kitchens to make you something.”

Yuuri stared at him for a moment. And then —

“Wait.”

Victor stopped, unable to do anything but obey. He swallowed.

Yuuri watched him for a long moment, considering. He seemed calm that evening, his usual anxiety absent.

Eventually, he stood.

Victor felt like cornered prey as Yuuri approached him, his feet bare beneath the long sweep of his nightdress. His hair was mused from sleep, and he looked soft and vulnerable, though Victor knew that if Yuuri really wanted to he could punch Victor through a wall with one flick of his magic.

Yuuri reached him and came to a stop, blinking up at him slowly. His lips were very pink.

“I had a dream,” he said.

Victor’s stomach felt like it had gone on holiday to another kingdom.

“You did?” he squeaked, then coughed.

“I did,” Yuuri said, smiling at his flustered state. “You were in it.”

Yuuri watched Victor absorb this information, something fond in his eyes. But no, Victor couldn’t let himself think there was any real meaning in that look.

“I was?” he asked.

“Yes,” Yuuri said, then he reached out and placed a hand on Victor’s chest, making his breath stutter. “You were touching me.”

Victor let out a strangled noise. Yuuri grinned.

“You did such things to me,” Yuuri went on, stepping closer. “You made me make noises the likes of which I’ve only made in other dreams… dreams which also had you in them.”

Victor felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. He stared down at Yuuri, unable to comprehend what he was being told, trusted with, and possibly even offered.

“I think I want those dreams to be a reality,” Yuuri said, so quietly that Victor could’ve tricked himself into believing that he imagined it.

“Your Highness…”

“Yuuri.”

“I —” Victor faltered. “I couldn’t possibly, Your Highness. It’d be improper.”

“What if I call you Victor?” Yuuri asked, and pressed closer. Victor closed his eyes and took a shaky breath as he felt Yuuri’s body press against his own. It was becoming very difficult not to get hard.

“You may call me whatever you desire, Your Highness,” Victor said once he’d composed himself. “But you are a Prince.”

“But this Prince loves you.”

The confession took the floor from beneath Victor’s feet and the breath from his lungs. He stared down at Yuuri, who was gazing at him nervously, chewing on his bottom lip.

“This Prince has always loved you,” Yuuri went on in a whisper. “And I’ve only just began to think that maybe you…”

And Victor was done for before Yuuri could even finish his sentence.

Their lips crashed together in a messy kiss, eliciting the most delectable gasp from Yuuri as he arched into Victor. Yuuri’s hands came up to tangle in his hair, and Victor’s hands went to slide around his lower back, greedily feeling over the tiny waist and the hard muscle. The kiss was electric, buzzing with more magic than a kingdom’s worth of fae could ever hold. And Victor never wanted to kiss anyone else ever again. He was ruined by one man.

Victor broke away, though Yuuri chased his mouth. But Victor pressed him back with a finger on his lips.

“I love you too,” he confessed, and saw the joy burst in Yuuri’s eyes, the grin spreading and making him impossibly beautiful.

“You do?”

“How could I not?”

“Victor…”

And then they were kissing again. And Victor was picking him up, Yuuri’s legs wrapping around his waist, and Victor was walking them to the bed. The pair of them fell into the sheets still tangled together, and Yuuri arched up into him, something needy escaping his lips.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you,” Victor assured him, his hand running up one gorgeously exposed thigh where his nightdress had slipped up.

“Victor… Victor…” Yuuri whined, taking Victor’s hand and pressing it between his legs where Yuuri was hard and wanting.

“Oh my love,” Victor moaned, leaning down to mouth at Yuuri throat as he pressed his hand down, giving Yuuri the friction he needed. Yuuri keened and arched into it. “Let’s get you out of this.”

“Wait,” Yuuri said again, breathless as he stayed Victor’s hand. “Wait… do you really want this?”

Victor blinked.

“What?”

“Well I don’t want you to feel obligated, or that you can’t say no because I’m a prince.”

Victor stared down at Yuuri in disbelief.

“Yuuri,” Victor said, giving in to the request and his own desire to call Yuuri by his given name. “I just told you I love you, of course I want this.”

“If you’re sure…”

“With all due respect, stop saying stupid things.”

Yuuri laughed and Victor grinned as he got back to work undressing him. Soon they were both naked and Victor took his time gazing down at the sight of the Prince sprawled out beneath him, flushed and wanton, the evidence of his desire laying hard between his legs and in the way he was looking at Victor.

“Come here,” Yuuri said softly, reaching for him, and Victor went willingly.

Their kiss was soft, full of feeling and gentle exploration. Victor ached with it, all these years of devotion unfolding from him. He smoothed his hand down Yuuri’s side, making him shiver.

“Is this your first time?” Victor asked.

He thought he knew the answer, but it was good to double check what Yuuri was getting himself into.

“Yes,” Yuuri said, breathless and seemingly a little dazed as he blinked up at Victor. “You?”

“No,” Victor confessed. “Though I haven’t in years… not since I met you…”

Yuuri smiled softly at him, placing a hand on his cheek.

“And why might that be?”

“I was madly in love with you of course,” Victor laughed. “Sex with another felt wrong somehow.”

Yuuri pulled him back down into a kiss. Then broke away a short distance to speak.

“I want you inside me.”

The words made Victor tremble with need, his hand clenching where it gripped the sheets, the other more gentle on Yuuri’s hip.

“Are you sure?” Victor asked. “It can be very intense.”

“Yes. I’ve thought about it so many times, I need you.”

Victor thought those words would be the death of him. That or the way Yuuri was looking at him right now, as though he wanted to devour him.

“Okay,” Victor agreed. “Do you have…?”

“In the bedside table,” Yuuri admitted, gesturing to it.

Victor lifted himself off Yuuri, going to the little mahogany table to search through the draw in it. There were a couple of things in there, a few pieces of parchment, a quill, Yuuri’s round-framed glasses, and also a little glass bottle full of amber liquid. Victor took the bottle and turned to find Yuuri had shifted higher on the bed so his head was resting on the pillows.

“And what do you do with this, Your Highness?” Victor teased, waggling the little bottle of oil at Yuuri.

“I think you know,” Yuuri said, blushing.

Victor grinned and climbed back onto the bed.

“But I want to hear you say it,” he said, abandoning the bottle to lean over Yuuri, his hand going to where Yuuri was wanting between his legs.

Yuuri gasped as Victor’s hand stroked his cock, his eyelashes fluttering.

“I touch myself,” he said, breathless, moving his hips up into Victor’s grip.

“Just here?” Victor pressed. “Or do you go further.”

“I go further… I… I finger myself… I pretend it’s you…”

Victor had to close his eyes then, the image of Yuuri fucking himself on his fingers, pretending it was Victor’s hand too much for him.

“This experience may kill me,” Victor admitted, and opened his eyes to see Yuuri smirk at him.

“Well then you better get a move on before you expire.”

Victor hurried to obey. He grabbed a cushion and helped Yuuri place it beneath his hips. Then he settled himself between Yuuri’s legs, which fell open to accommodate him, and wasn’t that something beautiful in itself? Victor was almost overcome by the sight of Yuuri, spread for him, but he had a job to do. He uncapped the little bottle, and poured some of the oil onto his fingers. Then he leaned back over Yuuri, wanting to be close to him. Yuuri smiled up at him, complete trust in his eyes as his hands came to rest on Victor’s shoulders. Victor kissed him, soft and sweet.

“Tell me if it hurts or if you just want to stop,” Victor told him, gazing into Yuuri’s eyes so he was sure he got the message. “At any time. I won’t mind.”

Yuuri nodded and a moment later Victor’s hand was sliding between his legs. Yuuri let out a shaky breath as Victor’s slippery fingers came into contact with his entrance.

“Relax,” Victor said gently, and Yuuri breathed out, going loose.

Victor pressed the tip of one finger in.

“Oh…” Yuuri sighed. “It’s like when I… it’s good.”

Victor grinned, and pressed in a little further. Yuuri trembled with it.

“More,” he demanded, his back arching as his fingers dug into Victor’s shoulders.

Victor pressed all the way in, and it was obvious that Yuuri had done this to himself before, because now he was moaning, not at all uncomfortable.

“Gorgeous, Yuuri, just like that,” Victor praised him, and Yuuri let out a keening whine.

Victor grinned.

“Oh yes, you always did respond to praise so well,” he said, thinking of their magic practices together. “Would you like it if I tell you how beautiful you are? Even though you have no idea, you’re always the most stunning person in whatever room you’re in.”

“That’d be hard… when you’re often in the… same room,” Yuuri said, struggling to get the words out as Victor fucked the finger into him.

“I think you sell yourself short, my love. You are incomparable. And how you look right now… poets would weep, my dear.”

Yuuri moaned, and arched further, his mouth slack and eyes closed as he rode Victor’s hand.

“More, I need more… I, oh, Victor…”

The words were like a shot of the most powerful aphrodisiac, Victor becoming if possible even harder.

“Fuck, darling, I don’t think I can wait much longer,” he said, taking in the way Yuuri was straining against the bed, how his hips rolled like he was dancing.

“Then don’t… fuck me, Vitya.”

The nickname broke any control Victor had over himself. He rose up onto his knees to slick himself up with more oil from the bottle. Yuuri lay panting, biting his lip as he watched him. Then Victor was back on him, their kiss bruising.

But then Victor slowed. He didn’t want to hurt Yuuri with the next part.

“Remember to tell me if it hurts,” Victor reminded him, and Yuuri nodded, tugging at his hip impatiently. Victor grinned and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Then Victor was pushing in, slowly, watching Yuuri’s face for any sign of discomfort. Yuuri’s brow furrowed and Victor stopped.

“Too much?” Victor managed to gasp, the pressure around his cock unbelievable.

“No,” Yuuri said, breaths coming short. “It’s just a lot… keep going.”

Victor pressed in a little more, a groan escaping him at how tight Yuuri was around him.

“Fuck, darling,” he gasped. “You feel so good.”

“So do you,” Yuuri said, then he shifted his hips a little and a groan escaped him. “Oh, more, please, yes.”

Victor obeyed, pressing in until his hips were flush with Yuuri’s perfect backside. Then he stopped, his forehead pressed to Yuuri’s as they both took a moment to gather themselves.

“Victor, Vitya…” Yuuri moaned.

“I know, my love, I know.”

After a moment more, Victor leant up a little and drew his hips back. Then he pushed back in. The sound Yuuri made was exquisite.

“Oh,” Yuuri moaned. “Yes, just like that… oh, that’s… Vitya…”

Victor started moving in earnest, his thrusts slow but deep, making Yuuri arch off the bed, his head falling back as his nails clawed down Victor’s arms. And there was no words for this. The act of taking Yuuri apart in the most delicious way was an act of worship that was his due. Not because of Yuuri’s royal status, but because he owned Victor entirely.

“Ah, hai, hai, yes, Vitya,” Yuuri moaned, dissolving from common into the old faeruin, only spoken by members of the aristocracy. It made something hot clench in Victor’s stomach, and he drove in harder, making Yuuri let out a broken wail that went straight to Victor’s cock.

They’d started off slow, but now Victor was driving his hips forward hard, the breath punched out of Yuuri in little gasps and cries. It was wonderful to find out that he could make Yuuri that loud in bed, make his voice that wrecked, his cheeks that flushed.

Victor tugged Yuuri’s hips into his lap as he knelt back. Yuuri scrambled to press his hands to the headboard, his back arching beautifully, supported by Victor’s hand at his waist. Victor groaned and meant forward to suck at one nipple. And Victor was nearly overcome. But how could he not be, with this gorgeous creature writhing in his lap?

Then Victor was sitting back, pulling Yuuri with him so he was sat in his lap. And Yuuri almost screamed as he sunk back onto Victor’s length fully, the cock inside him driving impossibly deeper with Yuuri weight.

“Oh fuck, oh fuck it’s so much, so good, Vitya.”

Victor groaned. Yuuri never cursed like he was that night before then. It was hot enough that Victor almost came right then. But he managed to hold himself back, driving his hips up into Yuuri as Yuuri got his knees under him and met him thrust for thrust, rising and falling in his lap.

“Oh just like that, Vitya, oh you’re so good… so good at fucking me… ah, ah, I… I, Vitya…”

Yuuri was really babbling now, his words a little slurred as he was driven closer and closer to the edge.

“Do you think you can come just from this, my Prince?” Victor asked, driving up into him hard, snapping his hips up in a way that made Yuuri wail.

“Fuck, fuck, yes, Vitya, yes, you feel so good.”

“Good.”

Then Victor was laying him back down, pushing one thigh up with his hand, and slamming in. The noise Yuuri made was inhuman. Victor fucked him hard and fast, and Yuuri came easily. The sight of his face, the noises he made, the way he clenched around him, it was all too much for Victor. He came buried inside Yuuri, his thrusts falling out of rhythm, hips coming forward and staying, grinding deep.

They rode it out, hips rolling together, gasping into each others mouths. Eventually they slowed, the kiss deep and messy.

After a few moments of breathing together, enjoying being in the same space, Victor pulled out. He sat back on his heels, and the sight of Yuuri thoroughly fucked-out, sprawled with his legs still parted, Victor’s spend leaking from between his cheeks and his own cum on his stomach, was enough to make Victor hard again. He pushed the thought away though. Yuuri was no doubt a little tender.

“Stay there,” Victor said, leaning forward again to press a kiss to Yuuri’s forehead.

“M’kay,” Yuuri agreed sleepily, and Victor fought the urge to coo at him.

Victor hurried to Yuuri’s adjoining bathroom. Once inside he waved his hand in the direction of the witch lights, which flickered to life in their sconces.

When Victor caught sight of himself in the mirror over the basin he had to pause. He looked wrecked, his hair a mess, skin flushed and sweaty, red scratches on his arms where Yuuri had dug his fingers in. But his eyes were bright, shining with hope and happiness in a way he’d never seen them. Victor tore his eyes away from the sight and hurried to get a washcloth, which he dampened under the tap.

When he returned to the bedroom Yuuri was dozing, though he stirred as Victor sat on the edge of the bed. He smiled up at him, sleepy and soft, and Victor felt like his heart would burst from his chest with how much he loved him.

He wiped Yuuri down gently, who let him do it without complaint. Then Victor gave himself a quick wipe down and tossed the cloth back in the general direction of the bathroom. Yuuri giggled as it made a slapping noise on the floor.

Victor grinned and burrowed back down beside him, gathering Yuuri up in his arms. Yuuri hummed in pleasure, warm and pliant. Victor laid a kiss on his hair.

There was silence for a while and then —

“What do we do now?” Victor asked, fearing the answer.

If this was just a one time thing, or if Yuuri planned to keep him as a paramour on the side of his real marriage, Victor wasn’t sure he’d be able to take it. He’d stay, of course he would, but his heart would never recover.

“What do you mean?” Yuuri asked, looking up at him, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“Well, with us… the suitors… you’re a prince…”

Yuuri looked like he was trying to fight a laugh, but he lost, a giggle escaping from him. Victor’s heart sunk. Yuuri found the idea of them finding a way to be together ridiculous. Of course.

“Silly Vitya,” Yuuri said, reaching up to cup his cheek. “We’ll be married.”

Victor blinked, feeling the shock written all over his own features.

“Wh — what?”

“Well it’s frowned upon for me to go sleeping around with just anyone,” Yuuri goes on, as though this is all obvious. “And obviously my parents are wanting me to get married, they’ll be thrilled that I’m actually marrying for love of course.”

“You’re serious?” Victor asked, sitting up and pulling Yuuri with him, gripping his arms as he searched his face.

“Of course,” Yuuri laughed. “What did you think I’d just abandon you? Or keep you as some sort of… mistress?”

“Well… yes,” Victor admitted.

“Silly Vitya,” Yuuri repeated, leaning forward to nuzzle their noses together. “I can’t live without you. The only reason I didn’t pursue you earlier was because I thought you didn’t see me in the same way. But then Phichit told me I was being an idiot and said I should try looking at our interactions through a lense of mutual attraction. That’s when I started to notice how you look at me… and I just… couldn’t help myself when I woke up and saw you here.”

Victor beamed and tipped forward to press their lips together softly.

“Your parents really won’t mind?” he asked, still unsure.

“They want me to be happy, that’s the most important thing,” Yuuri said with a gentle smile. “Also there’s the added bonus that you’re the most powerful magic wielder in the kingdom, second only to me. Our heirs will be very blessed with magical ability, which is what my marriage was supposed to bring about.”

“Heirs?” Victor repeated, his head spinning.

“Of course,” Yuuri said. “There are spells for that sort of thing, and my magical bloodline has to continue.”

Victor knew that there are spells to help two men procreate, that they could mix the two of them together and incubate the fetus in a magical womb for nine months because neither of them have the necessary parts to carry a child. Victor suddenly had an image of that child, half him, half Yuuri, running towards him with their arms outstretched to be lifted. Tears welled up in his eyes.

“Oh no,” Yuuri said, looking panicked. “Don’t cry, do you not want all of that? We don’t have to —”

“Yuuri,” Victor interrupted him. “I’ve never wanted anything more in my life, ever. I would love to marry you and make a family.”

Yuuri’s face broke out into a brilliant smile. The kiss they shared was full of adoration, promising years.

They fell asleep in each others arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments always very much appreciated :)
> 
> More writing and art can be found on my [Tumblr](https://ewokthrowdown.tumblr.com/).


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